Mail box



June 9. 1959 R. 1.. HUNT 2,889,981

MAIL BOX Filed Feb. 27, 1958 I m "H 6 Fl G.l

2 v 1 INVENTOR; Robert L.- Hunt ATTORNEYs United States Patent MAIL BOXRobert L. Hunt, New Milford, Conn. Application February 27, 1958, SerialNo. 717,899 1 'Claim. (Cl. 232-35) My invention relates to a rural mailbox and particu larly to a novel means for actuating the signal deviceof such mail boxes.

Rural mail boxes are equipped with a signal device or indicatorcomprising usually an arm and a flag. The signal is set in a vertical orup position to indicate to the mailman that mail is in the box to becollected. When the mailman collects the mail in the box, he manuallymoves the pivotally mounted signal device to a horizontal or downposition to indicate that the mail has been collected. It isinconvenient for the mailman to reach from his car to the side of thebox to lower the flag and with some very large mail boxes, the mailmancannot reach the flag from his car.

My invention solves this problem by providing a means by which thesignal device is operated by the opening of the door of the box by themailman. Also, due to the unique nature of my signal actuating meansconventional mail boxes can be modified to include it with a minimum ofmaterials and labor.

Generally, the actuating means of my invention comprises an aim mountedon the front of the door of the mail box and positioned so that when themail box door is opened, the arm contacts a lifting member movablymounted on the side of the box which member contacts the arm of thesignal device and causes the signal to be moved around its pivot to ahorizontal or down position.

The actuating device of my invention will be further illustrated byreference to the accompanying drawing of a preferred embodiment.

Figure 1 of the drawing is a side elevation view of the mail box of myinvention with the signal device in a vertical position and the doorclosed.

Figure 2 is a front View of the mail box with the signal device in avertical position and the door closed.

Figure 3 is a sectional view through section AA of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the mail box with the door in thefully opened position.

Figure 5 is a bottom view of the mail box with the door in the fullyopened position.

In the drawing, a rural mail box 1 is provided with a door 2 hinged atthe bottom by hinge 3 and opening downwardly. Mounted on the side of themail box is a signal or indicator device 4 comprising a signal arm orshaft 5 and a flag 6. The signal device 4 is mounted on the mail box 1by means of a mounting bracket 7 with flanges 8 and 9 secured to themail box, for example, by rivets. A pin 10 extends through the bracket 7and through the lower portion of the signal arm 5 passing through anelongated slot 11 in the lower portion of the signal arm 5. The slot 11,shown at an angle to the right of vertical, can also be a verticalelongated slot. The signal arm 5 when in the vertical or up positionrests on the side of the longer flange 8 of bracket 7 for support. Whenthe flag is lowered manually the arm 5 is raised through the travel ofthe slot 11 and 2 pivoted around the pin 10 to a horizontal or down"position where it rests on the top of the shorter flange 9 of bracket 7.The foregoing structure is that of a conventional rural mail box.

The signal actuating means of my invention is provided by the followingmechanism. An arm 12 is mounted on the door 2, for example, by rivet 13and bolt'14. The arm is mounted parallel to the door and projectsangularly downward from the vertical axis of the door when the door isclosed. The bolt 14 can be removed to pivot the arm upward around rivet13,,as desired, for example, for shipping purposes. The arm 12 extendsparallel to thedoor 2, i.e., downwardly when the door 2 is in thevertical or closed position, and outwardly towards the side of the mailbox 1 on which is mounted the signal device 4. Below the signal device 4on the side of the mail box is a lifting member 15. The lifting member15 is a flat piece with a recessed portion 16, which provides arms 17and shoulders 18. The lifting member is mounted for verticalreciprocation on the side of the box in vertical alignment with, andbelow, the bracket. The shoulders 18 need not be provided, i.e., thelifting member 15 can be made the same size throughout except for arms17 which provide for resting of the member 15 and also as a limitingmeans on the travel of the member 15 by contacting bracket 7. The upperportion 19 of the lifting member is of a size to fit within the innerwalls of bracket 7 so that it can contact the lower end of the signalarm 5. The lifting member 15 is mounted on the side of the mail box 1 bymeans of a mounting bracket 20 having flanges 21 and 22 secured, forexample, by rivets. The lifting member 15 projects below the bottom ofthe mail box 1 so that arm 12 can contact it and raise it the necessarydistance to move the signal arm 5 to cause it to pivot downwardly. Thelifting member 15 is freely movable vertically within the mountingbracket 20. The bracket 20 is positioned below the bracket 7 to providesuflicient travel between arms 17 and bracket 7 for the lifting member15 to move the signal arm 5. Also, it is positioned to allow sufficienttravel regarding contact with arms 18 when they are provided. Shoulders18 advantageously can be used to limit travel, i.e., to stop the bottomof lifting member 15 from going above the bottom of the box when thedoor is opened.

In operation, when the signal device 4 is in the vertical or up positionand the door 2 is closed, the lifting device 15 rests on the flanges 21and 22 of the mounting bracket 20 by means of the arms 17 as shown inFigures 1 to 3. When the door 2 is opened downwardly, the arm 12 on thedoor 2 contacts the bottom of the lifting member 15 which raises thelifting member 15 into contact with the lower end of the signal arm 5and raises it through the slot 11 causing the signal device 4 to pivotabout the pin 10 to a horizontal or down position, as shown in Figures 4and 5, where it rests on the flange 9 of the signal arm mounting bracket7. To reset the mechanism, the door 2 is closed which releases thelifting member 15 which drops to its resting position as shown in Figure1 and the signal 4 is then manually moved to its vertical or upposition. The device is then ready to actuate the signal again.

The door arm 12, lifting member 15, and mounting means, e.g., bracket 20can be made to fit any size mail box easily. There are three generalsizes of mail boxes (small, medium and large) and the device of myinvention can be adapted readily to any of the sizes by merely providingdifferent lengths for the flag arm 5 of the signal 4. Alternatively, thelength of lifting member 15 can be changed if it is not desirable tochange the length of the flag arm 5. It can be seen then, that a minimumof parts, which are easily made and inexpensive, is

required to modify a conventional rural mail box to provide theautomatic actuating device of my invention.

I claim:

In combination, a rural mail box having a door at one end hinged to opendownwardly; a signal arnr on one side adapted to be moved to display asignal and pivotallymounted on a pin within the inner Walls of a bracketattached to the side of the box, the pin passing through an elongatedslot in the lower portion of the signal arm' which permits movement ofthe signal; a signal arm lifting member mounted for verticalreciprocation on the side of the box in vertical alignment with,-

and below, the bracket, said liftingmember having anupper portionadapted to move in and out ofthe inner wallsrof the bracket, and a lowerportion projecting below the bottom of the box; a door arm membermounted parallel to the door and projecting angularly downward from thevertical axis of the door when the door is closed and adapted to contactthe lower portion of, and" urge, the lifting member vertically upwardwhen the door is opened causing it to raise the upper portion of thelifting member into the inner walls of the bracket to contact and movethe pivotally mounted signal arm around the pin from a vertical to ahorizontal position by action of gravity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS918,899" Oliver Apr. 20, 1909 1,521,397 Scott Dec. 30, 1924 2,613,031Joyce Oct. 7, 1952 2,809,780 Doetsch Oct. 15, 1957

